Chapter 25: Future Planning and Re-entering the Instance

A Taoist priest pointed at the leaderboard and asked, "If I recall correctly, 'Moonlight Sanitarium' is the dungeon that ranked fourth in difficulty and suddenly jumped to the top of the trending list yesterday, right?"

Someone nearby chimed in, "That’s the one. A death dungeon with a 0% survival rate. The Management Bureau sealed it off a week ago, and they’ve already sent in four consecutive 'Breakers' who all failed."

"I heard a newbie accidentally stumbled in through the trial channel yesterday. The whole world was waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves, but it turns out the rookie actually cleared it!"

"Your intel is outdated," a shirtless martial artist said, wagging a finger with a mysterious air. "Cleared it? I heard they actually 'broke' the dungeon!"

"Broke it?!" The revelation sent a shockwave through the entire leaderboard area.

The Taoist stroked his horsetail whisk and muttered, "Good heavens... a broken, out-of-control B-rank dungeon. Do you have any idea how much experience that is? Enough to launch him straight to level 5 or 6."

The martial artist laughed self-deprecatingly, "You can't compare people. It took me six dungeons just to reach level 5. Back then, I broke the record in my organization, and everyone called me an 'Experience Harvester'."

A passing half-orc patted the martial artist on the shoulder and consoled him, "Try to look on the bright side. The gap between you and him is only going to grow."

The martial artist spat on the ground, disgruntled, "The gap between him and me? It’s the gap between him and the entire world! Just you wait—by tomorrow at the latest, the record for the lowest-level player and the fastest time to break a B-rank dungeon will be refreshed. Save that line for the others on the board."

"Wait, what?"

"You’re telling me a level 1 player can crush a B-rank dungeon? Can this big shot speed-run the Abyss game without taking a single hit?"

"I get it now. All the major organizations are trying to buy hacks from that guy!"

As the protagonist of these conversations, Wu Chang, standing in the crowd, was just as shocked as the other players.

What did they mean? He was the top-ranked player on the speed-run leaderboard?

In his original mindset, clearing a B-rank dungeon during a novice trial might attract some attention, but it shouldn't be that big of a deal. After all, in the games he used to play, he’d wear top-tier gear and spend hours, sometimes even days, to defeat the final boss—yet online, there were always people who could clear it naked at level 1 without taking damage.

By comparison, a level 1 clearing a B-rank dungeon didn't seem that impressive. With a population of nearly ten billion on Blue Star, no rational person would easily assume they were the chosen one.

But he had overlooked one thing: the Abyss game was not a video game; there were no retries. Even the most talented prodigy, if they died early on, would never reach the future where they could effortlessly slaughter bosses with their eyes closed.

The massive, ever-increasing bounties on the reward board and the overwhelming discussions surrounding him made Wu Chang feel a bit light-headed.

Happiness had arrived so suddenly—like walking down the street and finding ten digits added to your bank account out of nowhere. Who wouldn't be dazed?

Fortunately, his Willpower attribute was high enough to help him regain his composure quickly. There was no such thing as a free lunch; forces capable of offering such massive bounties were not fools. The more you received, the more you had to shoulder.

Right now, he was just a rookie who had barely entered the Abyss game. Compared to those old foxes, he was a fledgling among fledglings. If he rushed into their arms out of greed, he’d likely be sold off and still be helping them count the money.

Since he had just finished his novice trial, these factions were throwing chips at him without hesitation—and it was highly likely they had these ulterior motives.

He needed to hear what the veteran players had to say.

With the entire leaderboard area discussing his case, he didn't have to worry about digging for information. Not far from him, a combat squad of four—clad in red, yellow, blue, and white spandex, respectively, and wearing pumpkin masks—was debating which faction was the best to join.

"White" spoke up first: "This is an easy choice. If I were that guy, I’d definitely choose White Tower. Their exploration and research of the Abyss lead the world; it’s objectively the best platform."

"Not necessarily," "Yellow" shook his head. "For a genius of this caliber, any organization will pour enough resources into their development; the difference between platforms won't be that significant. If it were me, I’d go to Sakurajima."

"White" scoffed, "Sakurajima couldn't even break a B-rank team dungeon that isn't even in the top hundred of the Danger List. Are you going there for technical aid?"

"Yellow" let out a suggestive chuckle. "The platform isn't important; the environment is. To recruit geniuses, Sakurajima has built a paradise called 'Takamagahara' using their local specialties. Compared to that place, wine pools and meat forests are child’s play."

"If you ask me, the Western Union is better," "Blue" chimed in. "Join the Western Union, become a 'Divine Envoy,' and live as a legal elite—it’s even more indulgent than Sakurajima. Plus, their exploration of the Abyss is second only to White Tower and us. They have fewer people, more resources, and less dungeon pressure. To compete with other major organizations, they pay higher prices. It’s a definite dark-horse choice."

"Red," who had been silent until now, spoke slowly.

"If it were me, I wouldn't go anywhere. The Management Bureau is just fine."

"Reason?" Wu Chang couldn't help but ask, joining the White, Yellow, and Blue trio.

"Red" shrugged. "The reason is that after the Management Bureau was established, they took the 'Introductory Guide,' which was worth 100 Decay Coins, and distributed it for free to all official players in the China region."

"90% of players can't earn 100 Decay Coins after their trial dungeon. In a vicious cycle, they need a third or even fourth dungeon just to buy the most basic guide. That 100-coin startup capital increased the survival rate of players by at least 30%."

"White" said dismissively, "A big shot wouldn't care about such petty favors."

"But a big shot needs stable order," "Red" asserted. "As the number of Abyss players increases, the old order of Blue Star will eventually collapse, turning into a Social Darwinist model of 'survival of the fittest.' This trend may be inevitable, but I believe this place will be the last to fall."

"Living in a collapsing world, humanity will eventually be consumed by its own power—the bosses in the dungeons have already demonstrated that more than once."

Wu Chang listened to a few more groups of adventurers. The perspectives offered by these veterans gave him a lot of inspiration and helped him draft a rough plan for his future.

However, he was in no rush to make a decision. Other people's perceptions were ultimately just that—others' perceptions. He needed to witness and confirm things for himself to reach his own conclusion. He was the one being fought over, and he had the luxury of time.

That evening, as the leaderboards for the earliest and fastest B-rank dungeon clears were updated, the Wilderness and the entire Abyss gaming world were shaken.

"Level 1, broke a B-rank out-of-control dungeon. Clearing time: two hours and thirty-five minutes."

The more experienced a player was, the better they understood the value of those two figures.

Some said this was a long-planned hype campaign by China, selecting a specific dungeon to build momentum for a member of the younger generation.

Some said the rookie player had actually died in the dungeon, and while the dungeon was broken, the thing that came out was actually the dungeon boss.

Others claimed the clearer was a messenger of the gods, carrying supreme power, having descended to help humanity master the Abyss.

The top ten most valuable bounty boards in the public area began to refresh rapidly as major factions vied for the unknown genius in the void.

However, Wu Chang, the man at the center of the storm, no longer paid any attention to it. Following the logic provided by the Introductory Guide, he searched for paid, high-quality informational articles on the forums, feverishly learning everything he could about the Abyss game.

Half a month flew by. Wu Chang arrived at a pre-booked e-sports hotel and hung the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door.

When the countdown for his dungeon cooldown hit zero on his attribute panel, his vision blurred, and he entered the Abyss game once again.